Hiring Prep

Begin by defining what you need in an employee. As we’ve learned, there are no perfect job descriptions. As soon as we hire someone the job responsibilities change.

I suggest the 80% rule – define the 80% you know. A good job description will be multi-dimensional and include:

• List of responsibilities
• Relational skills needed (internal and external)
• Reasoning and decision capabilities
• Leadership skills, if required
• Certifications necessary
• Computer skills needed
• Math and language skills required
• List of company’s values
• Physical demands

Testing

I believe in assessing candidates, and these assessments offer us great value in hiring.

Just like employers who can be in too much of a hurry to decide, so can employees. They are often so interested in just getting any job for the income, they will take a job even if they don’t like it. Their hope is that once hired, their personality will overcome any skill shortcomings.

There are numerous employee assessments available. The ones I use identify  skills, career interests, personality, and honesty. Decide what your priorities are for this position and plan to assess accordingly.

Because of the expense, I would recommend reserving most assessments to your final slate of candidates. Although that’s the general rule, there are initial screening assessments that filter candidates based on certain skills and honesty.

Excerpt from The Extraordinary Business by Mike Hill

Write to Mike at Mike.Hill@TeamTrenton.com